Skip the inverter. The shot comes out of three batteries inside the machine.

Two sites down, a bloke is running a lead from his inverter to a bench espresso machine, doing sums on his battery bank so he can have one latte before the voltage drops. On the next tailgate, the Nomad is pulling a shot off three cells inside its own body. Nothing plugged in, nothing to work out.

Here's all it asks of you. Pour 60ml of water into the stainless tank. Drop in a capsule, or spoon 8g of your own ground coffee into the adapter. Double-click. It heats the water itself, then a piston pump pushes it through at up to 20 bar, straight into your cup.

The four things people ask before they buy one

Does it really heat its own water? Yes. Double-click and it heats, then extracts. If the billy has just boiled, press and hold instead: it skips the heating and goes straight to the shot. Heating cold water is the hungry job, so hot water from the billy makes every charge go further.

How far does a charge go? Three 2500mAh 18650 cells, rated for 20 or more extractions per charge. It refills through Type-C in about 3 to 4 hours and keeps working while it charges, so a power bank in the glovebox keeps it pulling shots between town stops.

What goes in it? NS capsules (the Nespresso Original size), DG capsules (the Dolce Gusto size), or your own ground coffee in the 8g adapter. Both capsule types are on the shelf at Coles and Woolies, so one town stop restocks you.

Will it do a flat white? It does the part a camp stove can't: the shot. Warm the milk on the burner, froth it in the jug, pour. For a long black, shot into the mug and top up from the billy.

Which one to get

Black, White, Metallic Grey and Metallic Green are the same machine at A$119.95. Black 2.0 is the revised body, a little taller with a readout on the front face, at A$129.95.

Get the Black 2.0 + Carry Bag at A$139.95. You get the revised body, and the bag keeps the machine, the ground coffee adapter, the Type-C cable and the spoon in one place. The adapter is the small part that goes missing in a drawer system, and without it there's no shot from your own beans.

Delivered free anywhere in Australia in 3 to 8 business days, PO Boxes and Parcel Lockers included.